Allie Goes Global

When I woke up on day 4, I felt rejuvenated. Really, I felt like I was an actual person again. I even felt like a slightly better driver, though I still did make some changes to my itinerary for the day. Mostly, I didn’t want to push it with the whole “back to being a person” thing.

My original itinerary had me driving up to Gloucester Cathedral, and then working my way back through several towns in the Cotswolds to reach my destination for the evening. Getting to Gloucester wouldn’t have been too bad, but getting back would have proved a problem. See, what I had figured out by now is that the roads in that region were bad for me. Narrow, winding, roads with blind curves and occasional giant trucks that made me feel like my heart was falling out. I knew that once I was out of the southwest, I would do okay. But, you know, why make things harder on myself?

I decided to make it an easy day and go straight to Bourton-on-the-Water to just enjoy a little peace and quiet, maybe rest more before the remainder of my grand adventure. So that’s exactly what I did. The drive there was punctuated by only two things of note. Firstly, in a move which will surprise no one, I messed up a couple of roundabouts. At least this time I didn’t end up miles away from where I was supposed to be because of it. Secondly, I stopped at McDonald’s.

Look, I know. I’m on vacation in a foreign country and I choose to go to McDonald’s. How tragically American. But the thing is, I like that kind of thing. I like going to places I’m familiar with and seeing what other countries have done with it. Are there new things on the menu? Are the things that I already know different in some way? I would have gone to a Starbucks too, if I had found one. But as it turns out, the only thing that was different were the drink sizes. I was there for breakfast and I got an Egg McMuffin and a large Diet Coke. It was the approximate equivalent of a medium back home. No real surprise there. I’ll be in Mexico next month, and if I encounter a McDonald’s there, I’ll probably check it out. So sue me.

Anyway, the drive was pretty easy. I did have to turn out a few times to let faster cars by, but again, no one was a dick about it. Very different from back home. I finally made the well-marked turn and found myself in Bourton-on-the-Water. This was the one day of my trip that it was really properly raining while I was trying to wander around, so I count myself as lucky. My hotel actually had a parking lot, though it was tiny, and I went ahead and parked there. After a quick stop inside to make sure that was okay, since I wouldn’t be checking in for several hours, I headed out into the town proper.

Bourton-on-the-Water is known as the Venice of the Cotswolds, which is… ambitious. The reason is that there is a river that runs through town, and there is a series of small bridges that pass over it. Don’t get me wrong, it’s an absolutely beautiful town, but Venice it is not.

After a little wander, I decided to take part in a quintessentially British experience, the model village. One of the great things about a town like this is how walkable it is. My hotel was at one end of town, and the model village was at the other, and it took a total of five minutes to walk there. As someone who has to drive over 3 miles to get to the closest place that sells anything, I’m jealous.

After paying the modest entry fee (and opting not to pay the additional fee to enter the attached museum), I was in. Genuinely, it was adorable. Every building in town was lovingly rendered, and there were some fun details, like the little church with choral music being played out of it. It was surprisingly crowded, given the weather, but I was there, so I don’t know why I would expect no one else to be.

After spending a good amount of time there, I wandered back through town. It was actually kind of cool being able to match up some of the buildings I had seen in their miniature form to the real thing. I stopped at a gin distillery, though sadly, no tastings were available. At this point, it was just about time for lunch. I can’t remember the name of the place I went to, and I wouldn’t shout them out anyway, because it was NOT good. I paid £20 for the most underwhelming fish and chips of my life.

Now it was time to check into my hotel, and this one I can recommend without hesitation. I stayed at The Old Manse, and it was just about perfect. My room was small, but comfortable. The staff was over the top nice every time I interacted with them, and the food in the restaurant (for both dinner that night and breakfast the next morning) was delicious. My one complaint, if there is one, is that the bathroom is very small. However, it’s an old building, and you work with the space you have. As a solo traveler, it met my needs perfectly.

At this point, the rain was really coming down, so I decided to just have a chill evening. I got a drink in the pub downstairs, had dinner in the restaurant, and basically just watched some TV for the evening. The next day would be my longest drive yet, so I needed to prepare myself for what the day would bring.